Ruffling mechanism for sewing-machines.



A. H. DE VUE.

RuFFLxNG MECHANISM FoR SEWING MACHINESl APPLICATION FILED DEC. I9. I9I3.

PATENT @F'FQE.

.ALBERT I-I. DE VUE, OF WESTFIELD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE SINGER MANU- FACTURING COMPANY, A. CORPORATION' OF NEW' JERSEY.

RUFFLING MECHANSM EUR SEWING-MACHINES.

Speccaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 25, 1917.

Application filed December .1.9, 1913. Serial No. 807,571.

To cZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT H. DE Von, a citizen of the United States, residing at Westfield, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Fuliing Mechanism for Sewing-Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in rufliing mechanism for sewing machines, and it has for its Aobject to provide simple, effective and readily adjustablemeans, so arranged with respect to the sewing machine frame that the parts, with the exception of the ruliling blade, remain elevated above the work-plate and offer no obstruction to the work.

The improvements comprise a ruffling lever provided with a longitudinally disposed thrust-rod which enters an aperture formed in an oscillatory fulcrum stud journaled in the head of the overhanging bracket apm of the sewing machine. Surrounding said thrust-rod between the fulcrum stud and a collar fixed to the rod is a pressure spring which acts upon the ruliiing lever to press the same bodily downward. At its lower end the ruffling lever is formed with spaced arms, one of said arms extending below the other and ha 'ing fixed thereon the shank of a ruffling blade. 1t will be seen that the yielding rufiling lever is adapted for vibrator-y movement with its fulcrum stud and for endwise movement relatively thereto. Operative movements are imparted to the rufliing lever by means of a rock-arm comprising two sections or plates which embrace the spaced arms of the lever, said arms receiving between them a friction roller upon the end of a coupling stud connected to the rock-arm and adjustable within a slot formed in the outer section of the same. The rock-arm is connected to the end of a rock-shaft mounted in fixed bearings within the head of the overhanging bracket-arm and provided with a crank arm having a forked extremity which embraces a slide block upon a crank-disk carried by the needle actuating rock-shaft which is operatively connected to the driving shaft of the machine.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a sewing machine embodying the present improvements, and Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, partly in section. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the actuating members for the rock-arm, and Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the same, partly in section. Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the rock-arm from the underside thereof, showing its connections with the ruiiiing lever.

The present improvements are shown embodied in a sewing machine formed with the overlianging bracket arm A provided with the head 1 in which is journaled a vertically reciprocating needle-bar 2 carrying the needles 3 arranged in a plane at an angle to the line of feed. The machine is Vprovided with a presser-bar t to the lower end of which is connected by means of screw 5 the shank 6 of a pivotally attached presser-foot 7. Journaled within a bearing formed in the upper portion of the head 1 is a fulcrum stud 8 provided with the enlarged head 9 which, in conjunction with nut 10 at the opposite end of the stud serves to hold the same against longitudinal movement. The head 9 of the fulcrum stud is provided with a transverse aperture to receive a thrust-'rod 11 carried by a rufliing lever 12.

The rufiling lever 12 is provided at its upper end with a lateral arm 13 secured in fixed position upon the lever by means of screws 14 and formed with a transverse aperture to receive the thrust-rod 11 which is secured in xed position within arm 13 by means of screw 15. The lower end of thrust-rod 11 enters an aperture formed in an arm 16 secured in fixed position upon lthe ruffling lever by means of a screw 17 and carrying a projecting stud 18 having an enlarged head which forms a finger piece by which the ruffling lever may be raised or lowered. Surrounding the thrust-rod between the fulcrum stud 9 and a collar 11 upon the rod, is a pressure spring s which acts upon the ruflling lever to press the same bodily downward.

The ruffling lever is provided with depending spaced arms 19 and 20, arm 2O extending below arm 19 and being provided with a seat to receive the shank 21 of a rufliing blade 22 which is secured to the lever by means of screws 23 and 24.

The actuating mechanism for the ruffling lever comprises a rock-arm formed in two sections or plates 25 and 26 which embrace the arms 19 and 20 of the lever. The plate 25 is disposed adjacent the face of head 1 and is fixed upon the end of a rock-shaft 27 journaled in a fixed bearing 28 mounted within and transversely of the head 1. rlhe plate 26 upon its inner' face is provided with a lateral projection y29 which forms a seat to which is secured by means of screws 30 the inner section or plate 25 of the rock-arm. rPhe rock-arm is provided with a slot or guide-way 31 which is formed in and longitudinally of an extension 26X of plate 26 disposed transversely of plate 25, said guide- Way 31 being so arranged that its sides become substantially parallel with arms 19 and 2O of the ruiiiing lever at the end of a ru'liling stroke. At one side of the guide,- way 31 the extension 26X of the rock-.arm is provided with a serieseof graduations 32 to form a scale over which lies a thumb-nut 33 upon the end of a coupling stud 34 having its enlarged head formed with rectangular faces 35 which abut the side walls of guideway 31, and which merge into a flange 3,6 which lies within a channel formed in the rear face of extension 26,X to receive a fric? tion roller 37 carried by stud 34 and extend-A ing between arms 19 and 2O of the rufliing lever whereby the same is operatively and adjustably connected with the rock-arm.

lt will be seen that the position of the coupling stud 34 and the corresponding stroke of the ruifler blade under the vibratory movements of the rock-arm are indicated by the thumb-nut 33 in connection with the scale 32, which latter is in practice provided with suitable numbers representing the range of movement of the ruller blade..

The rock-shaft 27 by which operative movements are imparted to the rock-arm is fitted Within the hub 38 of a crank-arm 39 and is secured thereto by means of screw 40 rllhe crank-arm 39 is provided with a forked extremity 39X which embraces a slide-.block 41 pivotally mounted upon a stud bolt 42 carried by crank disk 43 fixed upon. the end of the needle actuating rock-shaft 44 journaled in and lengthwise of the overhanging bracket-arm A.

rlhe presser-bar 4 is raised to elevate the presser-.foot 7 above the work by means of the usual lever 45. The presser-foot shank carries a lateral arm 46 which, in its upward movement, comes into contact with the pro-- jecting end of screw 23 and bodily lifts the ruilling lever to which said screw is con-v nected, whereby the ruiiiing blade 22 is ele vated above the work-,plate W and ruiiling plate P. The work is then placed under the presser-foot and the latter is lowered upon the same, its downward movement per. mitting the spring s of the rutiiing lever to return the lever to its effective position and the blade 22 in operative engagement with the work. The operation of the ruflling mechanism in conjunction with the stitch-A oimins and feeding mechanism, Whh may be of any suitable construction, is `similar to that of other machines of the present class, the ruiiiingblade being advanced to produce a fold in the work beneath the presser-foot during the rise of the needles and being returned to initial retracted position during the descent of the needles into the fold thus produced. It will be seen that the endwise movable spring-.yielding ruiiiing lever permits the use of a rufliing blade of strong and rigid construction, inasmuch as the blade is maintained in fixed relation te the ruling lever throughout the movement of the latter, It will also be noted that at the beginning of a rui'liing stroke the rufliing lever is inclined toward the direction of feed, its fulcrum being disposed at the rear ofthe needle-har, and that such arrangement results in a constantly increasing spring pressure upon the lever and its blade as the latter is moved forwardly and approaches a vertical line drawn through the axis of the fulcrum-stud 9; and vice versa the degree of pressure upon the ruftling blade constantly decreases as the blade is returned to initial position. 1 l

1t will be understood that the improvements are susceptible of various modifica-` tions in construction and arrangement of parts from the embodiment herein shown and described without departure from the scope of the invention.1

Having'- thus set forth the nature of th.b invention, what l claim herein isz- 1. ln a sewing machine, the combinatidn r withv stitch-forming mechanism including a reciprocatingneedle and feeding mechanism, of ruffling mechanism including a vibratory iaiftlingl lever and a fulcrum therefor with respect to which said lever is endwise mov= able, a rigid rufling blade carried by said lever, said fulcrum and blade being disposed on opposite sides of the needlefpath, a spring actirng` upon said lever to press said blade into operative relation with the work, a rockarm and adjustable means for transmitting to-.and-,fro movements from the roch-arm to said lever.

2. In a sewing machine, the combinatiQn with stitch,formingmechanism and feeding mechanism, of rudi-'ing mechanism compris. ing a vibratory ruflcling lever, a fulcrumstud therefor, a thrust-rod carried by said ruiiling lever and entering an aperture in said fu-lcrumfstud, a pressure spring surrounding said thrust-rod, a rufiling blade carried by said lever, actuating means for said lever including a rock-arm, and means for adjustably connecting said rock-arm and the lever.

3. In a sewing machine, lthe combination with stitch-forming mechanism and feeding mechanism, of rufifling mechanism comprising a vibrator-y rufflijnglever, an oscillatory fulcruinfstud with which saidlever is con-` nected for endwise movement relatively thereto, a ruffling blade carried by said lever, a pressure spring acting upon said lever to press the blade upon the work, a rockarm having opposed faces which embrace the lever, actuating means for said rockarm, and means for adjustably connecting said rock-arm and the lever.

4. In a sewing machine, the combination with stitch-forming mechanism and feeding mechanism, of ruliing mechanism comprising a vibratory ruflling lever, an oscillatory fulcrum-stud with which said lever is connected for endwise movement relatively thereto, a ruffling blade carried by said lever, a pressure spring acting upon said lever to press the blade upon the work, a rock-arm having opposed faces which embrace the lever, means for adjustably connecting said rock-arm and the lever, and actuating means for said rock-arm including a rock shaft, a crank-disk, a slide-block upon said disk, and a crank-arm connected to said rock-arm and having a forked end embracing said slide-block.

5. In a sewing machine, the combination with stitch-forming mechanism and feeding mechanism, of ruiiiing mechanism comprising a vibratory and endwise movable rufliing lever and a fixed fulcrum therefor, a rufliing blade carried by said lever, a pressure spring acting upon said lever to press the blade in operative relation with the work, a longitudinal guideway formed in said lever, a rock-arm comprising two rigidly connected plates intermediate which said ruffling lever is received, one of said plates being provided with a guide-way, a coupling member for the rufliing lever and rock-arm and adjustable within said guide-ways, a rock-shaft fixed to said arm and provided with a crankarm, an actuating rock-shaft, and operative connections between said actuating rockshaft and the crank-arm.

6. In a sewing machine, the combination with stitch-forming mechanism and feeding mechanism, of ruiiling mechanism including a vibratory ruiiiing lever and a fulcrum therefor with respect to which said lever is endwise movable, spaced arms carried by said lever, a ruffling blade connected to one of said arms, a rock-arm comprising two rigidly connected plates intermediate which the arms of the ruflling lever are received, one of said plates being formed with a longitudinal channel and with a guideway intersecting said channel, a coupling-stud provided with opposed rectangular faces which abut the side walls of said guide-way and carrying a roller-stud received within said channel and projecting between the spaced arms of the ruiiing lever, and actuating means for said rock-arm.

7. In a sewing machine, the combination with a frame, stitch-forming mechanism, and feeding mechanism, of. rufiing mechanism including a vibratory ruiiiing lever, a ruffiing blade rigidly secured to and forming a Xed part of said lever, a rock-arm extending in the same general direction as said rufliing lever and mounted adjacent thereto, and a connection between said rock-arm and ruffling lever adjustable lengthwise of these parts through which the lever is positively vibrated by the rock-arm and by means of which the length of such vibrations may be changed.

8. In a sewing machine, the combination with a frame, stitch-forming mechanism including a reciprocating needle, and feeding mechanism, of ruifling mechanism, comprising a vibratory ruiiiing lever, a rigid rutfling blade secured upon and in fixed relation to said lever, a fulcrum for said lever secured `to a stationary part of the frame and disposed at the side of the needle-path opposite said blade, a spring acting upon said lever to press the blade into operative relation with the work and actuating means connected with said lever and adapted to move the same to carry the blade toward the needle-path.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALBERT I-I. DE VOE.

Witnesses JOHN C. POHLMAN, W. LEE HELMS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C. 

